Telltale counter



March 5, 1935. R. T. ABRELL El AL TELLTALE COUNTER Filed Sept. 11, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l March 5, 1935.

R. T. ABRELL ET AL TELLTALE COUNTER Filed Sept. 11, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ill I March 1935- R. T. ABRELL ET AL TELLTALE COUNTER Filed Sept. 11, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 [N VENTORS :yaing A. TTORNE y 5i 6: no! wt. t it Ffiwt mtou PER mkwL $5.: .5... Est 9.3

R; 8% =22 oi miTmmik o Tm RD mm? :22 mcw mggm gh 2 man =22 oomAmw mimwmm Patented Mar. 5, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TELLTALE COUNTER as trustee Application September 11, 1931, Serial No. 562,212

9 Claims.

This invention relates to printing taximeters and is shown as applied to a machine of the type disclosed in Patent 1,136,164, granted April 20, 1915, to Ohmer and Bridenbauth, and in Patent 1,182,408, granted May 9, 1916, to Ohmer and Orth. The patents referred to disclose a record. printing and ticket issuing taximeter. Patent 1,594,186 was, on July 27, 1926, granted to Orth et a1, vhich latter patent showed a tell-tale counter which would be actuated during, and only during, the time the vehicle was driven when the flag shaft was being returned from its nonrecording position to its home position.

The object of this invention is to provide in a taximeter a counter which will be driven when the flag is in the improper position recited above and when a passenger occupies the cab or vehicle unless the flag has been thrown to its recording position. None of the above mentioned patents showed any means to record the fact that the driver had driven the cab while occupied with the flag in its vacant position. The object of this invention is, therefore, to incorporate all of the advantages secured by the structure shown in the Patent 1,594,186 and also to indicate the fact that the driver has driven the cab with the flag in vacant position while the cab is occupied by a passenger.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a rear elevational view of the wellknown Ohmer Printing Taximeter such as shown in Patents 1,136,164 and 1,183,408, with a part of the casing broken away to expose certain of the internal parts.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of certain of the parts mounted beneath the taximeter.

Figure 3 is an elevational view of the end of the taximeter' to which the flag is applied taken on the line 33 of Figure 1 with the casing 40 broken away to expose certain of the internal mechanism.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of a cab having the invention incorporated thereon.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of the wiring mechanism employed.

Figure 6 is a View similar to Figure 3 but taken from the other end of the taximeter.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary plan view of a por tion of the record printed by the taximeter.

The record shown in Figure '7 is substantially the same type of record as shown in the above mentioned Patent 1,136,164, which patent shows mechanism for printing at the end of each operation of the machine all of the data shown on one line of the record. In addition to what is shown on the record in the said patent, we have provided means to print the tell-tale record at the extreme right of Figure 7. The top line shows the first one printed and the bottom line shows the last one printed. If, therefore, it is desired to know the number of live miles; that is, passenger carrying miles, recorded between any two impressions; it is only necessary to subtract the upper line from the line immediately succeeding it. Live miles are printed at the extreme left of Figure 7, the total miles are printed next thereto, the waiting time would be the third set of figures and the fare appears in the middle, which is followed by the date, the consecutive number, the meter number and the tell-tale. This record will be analyzed hereafter.

The casing 1 encloses end walls 2 and 3. A flag 4 is secured to a stud shaft 5 supported by the end wall 2. Secured to the shaft 5 is a gear 6 which meshes with and drives a gear '7 I secured to a stud shaft 8, which gear 7 meshes with and drives a gear 9 mounted on a stud shaft 10, which gear 9 meshes with and drives a gear 11 secured to the cam shaft 12, which cam shaft runs through the meter, being mounted in the end Walls 2 and 3.

A printing crank handle 13 is secured to a shaft 14 to which is secured a gear 15 which meshes with and drives a gear 16 mounted on a printing shaft 17 to which is secured a segmental gear 18 which may be brought into mesh with a segmental gear 19 secured on the cam shaft 12. All of this structure is shown and described in the above mentioned patents and the operation briefly is that when the cab is unoccupied the flag 4 should be in substantially the position shown in Figures 1 and 4. When a passenger engages the cab, the driver should manually throw the flag from the position shown in Figures 1 and 4, which is known as the vacant position, to the dotted line position to the right of the frame as shown in Figure 3, which is known as the hired position, which will rotate the gear 19 (Figure 6) clockwise an amount corresponding to the amount of movement of the flag. The cam shaft 12 is similarly rotated, which sets the operative features of the taximeter in operation as fully described in the said patents. When the passenger is ready to get out of the taxicab, the driver should manually move the flag from the dotted line position to the right of Figure 3, known as the hired position, to the dotted line position in which the lower portion of the flag is in alignment with the cam shaft 12 as shown in dotted lines in Figure 3, which position is known as the non-recording position. This imparts a corresponding movement to the cam shaft 12 so as to render most of the functions of the taxirneter inoperative but if the driver should drive the vehicle with the flag in such a position, the live miles counter, the total miles counter and the fare would be accumulated. The clock, however, would be stopped and there would be no waiting time registered. After rotating the flag to its 180 degree position, the driver should now rotate the crank 13, as viewed in Figure 6, in an anti-clockwise direction which will rotate the gear 16 and the segmental gear 18 in a clockwise direction, which movement is continued until the said gears have made one complete revolution. The gear 19 had been moved approximately 180 degrees by the movement of the flag heretofore described, which movement had been in a clockwise direction. As the segmental gear 18 is moved in a clockwise direction the tooth 20 forming a part of the segmental gear 18 is brought into mesh with the tooth 21 forming a part of the segmental gear 19 and thereafter the clockwise movement of the gear '18 will rotate the gear 19 anti-clockwise, which movement will be transmitted through the cam shaft 12 to the flag 4, thereby rotating the flag from its non-recording position back through its hired position to its vacant position. While this is being done the platen 22 is brought into engagement with the printing wheels 23, thereby bringing the record strip 24 into engagement with the printing wheels and printing thereon the indicia which has been registered on the said wheels. It is these wheels which print the record shown in Figure '7. All of this mechanism is shown and fully described in the said patents.

Patent 1,594,186 shows a cam 25 carried by the gear 16, which cam engages a lever 26. This lever 26 is normally urged to the right, as viewed in Figure 6, by means of a spring 2'7. When the cam 25 is removed from engagement with the lever 26 and the spring 27 moves the said lever to the right, it engages between the teeth of a gear 28 secured to a shaft 29 which carries worms 30 and 31 which driveworm gears 32 and 33 respectively secured to shafts 34 and 35 respectively which drive the fare and mileage registers shown in Patent 1,136,164 and which print the live miles and the total miles data as shown in Figure 7. A clutch collar 36 is splined to the shaft 29 so as to rotate therewith but is capable of having longitudinal movement relative thereto. Such longitudinal movement, however, is resisted by a spring 3'7. A clutch collar .38 and worm 39 are driven from the well-known flexible shaft shown in the said patents, which shaft is rotated by the movement of the vehicle. The function of the lever 26 is to lock the worms 30 and 31 against rotation during the printing operation for if they were operated at that time it would probably tear the record and jam the machine. A lever 40 is attached to the lever 26 by a pin and slot connection 41 and both of said levers are mounted on a shaft 42. The lever 40 has a downwardly er ending tang 43 which is received in a bifurcation 44 of a lever 45 mounted on a shaft 46 car-' ried by the bottom of the taximeter. A lever 4'7 is also mounted on the shaft 46 which lever is provided with a slot 48 which receives a pin 49 carried by the lever 45. One end of the lever 47 is provided with a bifurcation 50 which straddles a disk 51 carried by a clutch collar 52 which is provided with a slot 53 which receives a pin 54 carried by a counter shaft 55. Loosely mounted on the counter shaft 55 is a clutch collar 56 to which is secured a worm gear 57 which is driven by the worm 39. If, therefore, the crank handle 13 has been rotated to perform the printing operation not only will the live miles and the total miles printing wheels be locked against operation but the lever 40 would have been moved by its spring 58 to the right, as viewed in Figure 6, which will move the tang 43 to the left as viewed in the said figure or downwardly as viewed in Figure 2 so that the pin 49 will engage the lower portion of the slot 48 as viewed in Figure 2, and shift the lever 4'7 against the tension of its spring 59 in an anti-clockwise direction, moving the clutch collar 52 into engagement with the clutch collar 56 so that if the vehicle is now operated the counter shaft 55 will be rotated. The counter shaft 55 is provided with a pinion 60 which drives gears 61, 62 and 63 (Figure 3) mounted on shafts 64, 65 and 66 respectively. The gear 63 is integral with the units printing wheel 23 of the tell-tale counter 67. Substantially all of this structure is shown in the above mentioned Patent 1,594,186.

It is apparent from the above construction that the tell-tale counter, as shown in the said Patent 1,594,186, will furnish positive proof of the number of miles or fractional portions thereof which the driver operates the vehicle with the lag in the improper positions between the 180 degree position and its zero position, that is, during the printing operation. However, the said tell-tale counter would not operate in case a passenger was carried and the flag was not operated at all and simply remained in its home position. We have provided means whereby this same tell-tale counter will be operated when the 2" flag remains in the improper position of being left at its home position when a passenger is being carried. To this end we have provided a battery 68 connected to the ground 69 by means of a lead 70. A lead '71 extends from the battery to a lead '72 which extends to spring contacts '73 in the vehicle seat. The seat '74 is provided with a plurality of plungers '75 adapted, when a passenger is seated on the seat, to be moved into engagement with the spring contacts 73 and the spring contacts '76 which are connected to a lead '77 which passes to a light 78 and from thence by a lead 79 to a contact 80 which is normally in engagement with a spring contact 81. casing of the machine and when the casing is inserted on the machine, the contact 80 will be brought into engagement with the spring contact 81. A lead 82 passes from the contact 81 to a lead 83 connected to a spring contact 84 which, when the cam shaft 12 is in its home position, is engaged by a cam 85 mounted thereon and a lead 86 leads from the said cam to the ground 8'7 so that if a passenger sits on the seat and moves the plunger 75 into engagement with the spring contacts 73 and 76 and if the flag is in its home position the light 78 will be illuminated, which will visually indicate that the cab is being illegally operated.

The lead 7'7 is also connected to a lead 88 connected to a contact 89 similar to the contact 80 and when the cabinet is on the taximeter it is in engagement with a spring contact 90 connected to a lead 91 connected to a solenoid 92.

Fromthis solenoid a lead 93 extends to the lead 83 so that if the flag is in its home position and a passenger takes his seat, the solenoid 92 will be actuated, pulling inwardly on its core 94 or moving it to the right as viewed in Figure 2. A rod 95 is connected to the solenoid core and The contact 80 is mounted on the to the lever 47 so that the said lever will be rotated anti-clockwise, as viewed in Figure 2, the slot 48 slidingove'r the pin 49 and moving the clutch collar 52 into engagement with the clutch collar 56 so that if the vehicle is operated the tell-tale counter will be correspondingly operated. It is, therefore, apparent that the telltale counter will be operated whenever the flag is in improper position and by improper position We mean when the flag is in home position and the passenger is seated on the seat or when the printing operation is being performed by the rotation of the crank 13. In other words, by improper position we mean that the cab is operated with the flag'in a position in which it should not be.

The record, as shown in Figure 7, furnishes valuable information as to just what is taking place on each trip. For instance, in New York 1 City most of the taxicabs run on the basis of 15 for the first mile and 5 for each additional A,. mile. A comparison of the top and the next to the top of the printed records discloses this information On trip No. 3599 the number of live miles was the difference between 597.7 miles and 588.0 miles, or 9.7 miles, The total miles that the cab traveled from the time it discharged its last passenger to the time the printed record was made was the difference between 327.0 miles and 317.3 miles, or 9.7 miles, showing that the driver did not do any cruising on that trip. The telltale printer shows that there was no driving done with the flag in an improper position. The fare which should be registered should, therefore, be on the basis of 9.7 miles for there was no waiting time and this fare would be $2.05, which is the fare registered. This record, therefore, shows that there was no waiting time, no illegal operation and no cruising and indicates a perfect record. Considering the next trip, however, which is trip No. 3600, there was no waiting time; the live miles was 21.3; the total miles was 21.9, a difference of .6 of a mile which obviously was the amount of cruising performed by the driver before he picked up the passenger. This .6 of a mile could not be accounted for by the flag being in the wrong position for if the flag were in its position between 180 degrees and zero or home position, no mileage would be recorded on the live miles or the total miles. Neither could it be accounted for by a passenger sitting on the seat and the driver operating the flag in its home position for in. that case both the live miles and the total miles would have accumulated simultaneously. This .6 of a mile, therefore, cannot be accounted for other than there was .6 of a mile of cruising, which is perfectly reasonable. It is noted, however, that there was 12.2 miles registered on the tell-tale counter, which is the difference between 17.7 and 5.5. This cannot be accounted for on the basis that a passenger was seated on the seat and the cab was driven with the flag up for in that case this 12.2 miles would have been accumulated on the total miles but not on the live miles, whereas it was not accumulated on either. It can, however, be explained, and the only possible explanation is that on taking the passenger into the cab the driver threw his flag and that after driving 21.3 miles he threw the flag to its 180 degree position and then rotated his hand crank 13 so as to bring the printing mechanism into operation, which looks the total miles counter and the live miles counter against actuation, and with the lever 13 in this position he operated the cab 12.2 miles. We now have positive proof showing that the cab driver is dishonest. Not only can he be made to pay for this mileage but he can, in addition, be discharged and perhaps prosecuted.

Considering the last trip No. 3601, we find that the live miles was 8.1 and the total miles was 8.5, which difference may be accounted for in either of two ways. First, there was .4 of a mile of cruising, which would be legal, or second, it may have been that there was a passenger on the seat for this .4 of a mile, which latter supposition is conclusively proven to be correct by the fact that the tell-tale counter registered .4 of a mile which shows that the driver took on a passenger and drove the passenger .4 of a mile while the flag was in its vacant position and that he also drove that passenger 8.1 miles for which he charged him a fare of $1.05. If he had charged him for this extra .4 of a mile, the fare would have been more and the cab operating company knows that that driver has cheated them out of 10 by illegally operating that cab with the passenger on the seat and the flag up.

Not only is this true, but the light 78, which if desired might be a bell or any signal, indicates to everyone that the cab is being illegally operated.

We realize that many changes may be made in the specific form of this invention shown and described by way of illustration in this application and we, therefore, reserve the right to make such changes in the specific form of the invention as shown herein as we may find to be desirable. We, therefore, claim the invention broadly except as we may limit ourselves by the appended claims.

Having now described our invention, we claim:

1. In combination, two shafts adapted to be driven from a part operatively connected with a moving part of a vehicle, a clutch controlling the movement of one of said shafts, a lock controlling the movement of the second of these shafts, operating mechanism for said lock and clutch so controlled that said clutch is positively engaged before said lock becomes operative, a weight controlled switch, a control shaft having a normal and an operative position, and means whereby said clutch is actuated so as to advance said counter when said weight controlled switch is closed and said control shaft is in its normal position.

2. In combination, a shaft adapted to drive various registers in a taximeter carried by a vehicle, a second shaft adapted to drive a mileage register, a common driving means adapted to alternately drive said shafts, a clutch for said second shaft, a cam shaft, and means whereby said clutch is operated so that said second shaft will be driven when the vehicle is occupied by a passenger sitting on the seat and the cam shaft is in a predetermined position.

3. In combination, a shaft, 2. driving means for said shaft which is normally disconnected therefrom, a second shaft, a counter shaft, means whereby said driving means is connected to said first mentioned shaft when the second shaft has been partly operated, and weight controlled means whereby said shaft may be connected to said driving means provided said cam shaft is in a predetermined position.

4. In combination, a drive shaft, a locking device for said drive shaft, a second drive shaft, a clutch device for controlling said second drive shaft, a manually rotatable printing shaft, means actuated by means of said printing shaft for actuating said locking device to prevent the movement of said drive shaft during movement of said printing shaft, means controlled by the movement of said printing shaft for actuating said clutch device, a weight controlled switch, a manually operable control shaft, and means controlled by said weight controlled switch and said control shaft when said control shaft is in a certain position to actuate said clutch.

5. In combination, a drive shaft, a second drive shaft, a manually rotatable printer shaft, means actuated by the rotation of said printer shaft for preventing the movement of said drive shaft, other means actuated by the movement of said printer shaft for causing the rotation of said second shaft, a weight controlled switch, a manually operable control shaft having a normal and an operative position, and means controlled by said switch and control shaft when in normal position to actuate said clutch.

6. In combination, an operating shaft for the taximeter, a counter, a printing shaft, means whereby movement of said printing shaft renders said counter and said operating shaft alternately operative, a switch, a manually operable control shaft having a normal and an operative position, and means controlled by said switch and said control shaft when in normal position to render said counter operative.

'7. In combination with a printing taximeter having a cam shaft for controlling meter operation recording elements and a normally stationary special printing counter, a printer shaft for effecting a trip print from said recording elements and special printing counter, normally ineffective means for advancing said counter by movement of the vehicle, and control means for causing said advancing means to become effective, said control means being actuated either by partial operation of the printer shaft or under the joint control of, the cam shaft and a vehicle seat.

8. In combination with a. printing taximeter having a cam shaft for controlling meter operation recording elements and a normally stationary special printing counter, a printer shaft for effecting a trip print from said recording elements and a special printing counter, normally ineffective means for advancing said counter by movement of the vehicle, and control means, including a clutch, for causing said advancing means to become effective, said clutch being actuated either by partial operation of the printer shaft or under the joint control of the cam shaft and a vehicle seat.

9. In combination, a shaft, a counter thereon, a driving means therefor, a clutch whereby the shaft and driving means may be connected, 9. second shaft, a cam shaft, a weight controlled switch, and means whereby said clutch is actuated either by partial operation of the second shaft or under the joint control of the cam shaft and weight controlled switch.

RICHARD T. ABRELL. JOHN E. HOPPING. 

